Thursday, August 9, 2012

Look to Him!

Before you read this post, please know it was written on what my heart has been personally convicted on lately, and on an issue that I feel has grieved God's heart.
My heart has been so stirred and troubled lately with the heavy division in our country right now. I know there has always been division. We have our conservatives and our liberals who have never seen eye to eye, but lately it seems like we are divided more than ever before. But to go a step even further, Christians seem to be divided more than ever before. Our brothers and sisters who have the common bond of Jesus, representing His name, seem to be debating and arguing over issues across the board. Has anyone else noticed this? I see debates all the time on facebook about what is right and what is wrong. I think we are all familiar with the Big Chick Fil A debate. I watched MANY debates on facebook unfold between Christians about this. I even weighed in on a couple. No need to expound on that any further. I think we have heard enough opinions on that one.
Of course, a lot of what I read are blogs about adoption and orphan care, and I have had many conversations on the topic with people because it is an area that the Lord has burdened my heart on. Here are some examples where I have seen and/or heard Christians divided in this area : "It's wrong to adopt an infant child under the age of two." "It's better to contribute to a family preservation plan than to actually adopt a child." "It's better to give your money to US orphans than to International orphanages." "We should be helping our own and not some other country." "No one should pursue adoption out of Ethiopia right now because it's just too corrupt." I would read these posts or hear this and think what on earth???? When did we start playing the voice of God? When did we start thinking we knew better than He does? He cares deeply about ALL OF US and ALL of these issue and He calls everyone to different places and different things!!! That's just how He is. Just because God gave me a heart to pursue a 4 month-old boy in Ethiopia and my friend a heart to pursue a 15 year-old boy in America doesn't make one of us right or wrong. God cares deeply about both of those children no matter their age or ethnicity! There shouldn't be division on which one is better. And family preservation plans are AMAZING and a wonderful way to prevent children from becoming orphaned out of poverty. We support families and family preservation plans, but it does not mean they should take the place of international adoption altogether! BOTH ARE TERRIBLY NEEDED! They go hand-in-hand. We need family preservation plans in place and there are STILL MANY CHILDREN out there that need to be adopted into a family! One is not better than the other. There is a need for both! Yes, there is some corruption in adoptions, and something should be done about that, but people SHOULD NOT ever make anyone else CALLED BY GOD to adopt a certain child feel guilty for doing so, or ever tell them they shouldn't be adopting a child. Especially when that family knows in their heart, with all their being, they are adopting the right child for THEM, because they sought the Lord and followed His leading. Who are we to say that is wrong? I can see where there is concern about somechildren being true orphans or not, but there are babies out there who are TRUE ORPHANS that God loves, and those babies deserve a family just as much as the older children. My neighbor may be called to an 8 year-old in America, while my best friend may be called to that infant in India. God calls different people to different things and places, and puts different things in everyone's heart. Your calling in life is not going to look just like mine, and I shouldn't judge you when it doesn't. Maybe sometimes someone's passion on what God has bent their heart towards, can become so passionate that they start to believe people are wrong when they aren't as passionate as they are about the subject. This has happened to me before. It's not a hard thing to do. This kind of thinking can cause division. It also seems like lately, when someone shares their opinion or JUDGMENT, that judgement spreads like wildfire throughout the body, and people grab a hold of this one person's opinion and claim it as their own opinion. I admit I am guilty of this! I have read a blog, was convinced I was for an issue or (on their side) and then read a different post about the opposite view of the same thing, and felt torn on where I stood. Then I would call up Suzie Q and ask her where she stood on the issue, instead of asking God first what He thought, and make up my mind according to Suzie's opinion. I have looked to people many times instead of looking to God and what He thinks.
This seems to be more than people weighing in with their opinion or jumping on someone else's bandwagon of what they view as truth. This seems like a stirring of confusion in the spirit. Like a direct attack from the enemy to divide Christians and cause conflict...to divert us from God's true heart and what breaks His heart. MANY things break His heart and He gives a different piece of His heart to each one of us at different times. I read a blog the other day, I'm not even sure where I saw it, but a quote really stood out to me. The blogger said something like, "We, Christians, are more focused on hating the sin, than we are at loving the sinner." I thought that was truth in many instances. And I also think we are so focused on hearing what everyone else says and thinks, or hearing our own selves talk that we aren't hearing God's heart anymore.
A friend posted this song below to facebook the other day, and I loved it! It says very clearly what my heart has been feeling .
"Jesus Friend of Sinners, we have strayed so far away, we cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing. Jesus friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see, the world is on their way to you, but their tripping over me."
Lord, may my voice or anyone else's never be louder than your voice. I pray no one trips over me and my views on their way to knowing you and your true heart and what you have for them. Forgive me when I have done this is my life already. May your heart be heard and not my voice!